WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.840 If you're looking for a cheap laptop, you've probably seen that many of them have something 00:00:03.840 --> 00:00:10.720 called EMMC storage. But that spec sheet typically doesn't do a good job of explaining exactly what 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:16.480 that is. So is it some extreme cost-cutting measure that you should avoid like the plague, 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:22.400 or cannot think for EMMC actually be a good idea? Well, EMMC actually stands for Embedded 00:00:22.400 --> 00:00:27.360 Multimedia Card, which probably sounds like something you'd insert into a digital camera 00:00:27.360 --> 00:00:32.000 back when that was popular. And it turns out that that's actually kind of true. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:38.560 The original EMMC came out back in 1997 and was indeed common in standalone digital cameras. 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:43.120 EMMC was later improved upon and had copy protection added, with the result being the 00:00:43.120 --> 00:00:49.280 more familiar SD card. But the original EMMC standard stuck around. The EMMC storage in that 00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:53.920 laptop that you've been eyeballing is essentially an EMMC version that's soldered directly onto 00:00:53.920 --> 00:00:59.840 the laptop's motherboard instead of being an actual card that you can eject. So it's kind of 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:05.600 like a little built-in SSD. But why do lower-end laptops use EMMC instead of just putting in an 00:01:05.600 --> 00:01:12.400 actual SSD considering how cheap and common SSDs have become? Well, even though SSDs are now standard 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:17.200 in most laptops rather than the luxury they used to be, EMMC is still the cheaper option. 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:22.800 The NAND flash memory that actually stores the data inside EMMC doesn't have the same longevity 00:01:22.800 --> 00:01:28.000 as what you'd find inside of a proper SSD. That is to say, it wears out faster due to simpler 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:33.440 firmware and lower quality hardware. EMMC also doesn't tend to give you as much storage capacity, 00:01:33.440 --> 00:01:38.320 as many laptops that include it only have 32 or 64 gigabytes for you to work with, 00:01:38.320 --> 00:01:43.840 which isn't a lot for Windows 11. But are the drawbacks of EMMC so severe that we recommend 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:47.920 staying away from it entirely? The thing to remember about EMMC is that even though it 00:01:47.920 --> 00:01:53.440 isn't the same as a SATA or NVMe SSD, it's still solid-state storage that's going to give you many 00:01:53.440 --> 00:01:58.400 of the same benefits. Because of its cost-effectiveness, laptop manufacturers have been able to replace 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:03.120 those painfully slow mechanical hard drives you used to find in budget models with EMMCs. 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:09.040 And make no mistake, although these low-end laptops still come with slimmed-down processors and 00:02:09.040 --> 00:02:15.120 limited amounts of RAM, those spinning hard drives were THE biggest bottleneck in such systems just 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:20.960 a few years ago. So swapping those out with EMMC removes this bottleneck without breaking the bank. 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:27.360 From that perspective, EMMC storage is an absolute win. But EMMCs top out at around 400 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:33.600 megabytes per second of sequential read speeds, with some implementations being well below that, 00:02:33.600 --> 00:02:38.480 meaning they'll be significantly slower for large file transfers than even a cheap SATA SSD. 00:02:38.480 --> 00:02:43.200 But more importantly, random reads, which is a more relevant stat for day-to-day use, 00:02:43.200 --> 00:02:47.840 will also be around half of what you get with an SSD, or even a bit lower. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:52.720 However, here's the thing to remember. Unless you're really trying to put a cheap system 00:02:52.720 --> 00:02:59.360 through its paces, it shouldn't end up mattering too much. Laptops with EMMC are meant for more, 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:03.440 you know, watching YouTube, typing reports, wasting time on social media, those kinds of 00:03:03.440 --> 00:03:10.160 use cases that won't tax the PC all that much. Trying to do anything heavy like gaming, streaming, 00:03:10.160 --> 00:03:16.080 or content creation will probably push the system's other components well beyond their limits as well. 00:03:17.040 --> 00:03:23.360 So for a cheap laptop, EMMC makes a lot of sense, as you wouldn't be buying it for demanding 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:27.920 applications anyway, nor would you be hitting it so hard that it would quickly wear out. 00:03:27.920 --> 00:03:34.960 But Anthony, what about the base model Steam Deck? That thing is meant for gaming, and it has EMMC. 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:40.080 Well, EMMC is mostly going to slow down your load times in those games on the Steam Deck, 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:43.440 but shouldn't affect actual game performance too much once you get in. 00:03:44.080 --> 00:03:48.080 Sometimes just having a bit more patience can save you a significant amount of money. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:51.760 I can't even tell you how much money I've wasted on express food delivery just so I can 00:03:51.760 --> 00:03:58.800 get my chicken poppers before halftime ends. Well, I don't watch sports, but still the same thing. 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:02.320 Thanks for watching guys, like, dislike, check out some of our other videos, comment with 00:04:02.320 --> 00:04:05.120 video suggestions down below, and don't forget to subscribe and follow.